education policy | Schools Week

6 super-nerdy things you might have missed in the Policy Exchange free school report

Today’s Policy Exchange ‘research’ conveniently released a bunch of positive facts about free schools on the exact same day that David Cameron announced 49 new ones and committed to opening 500 more. Well, fancy that. There have been endless back and forths about the correctness of the report. People seem to see what they want […]

Who is the right group to monitor schools?

Having increasingly ‘freed’ schools from local government, it seems they still need to be monitored. But who should do it, and how? It’s now clear that whatever form the next government takes, further expansion of the academies programme is likely to continue. Equally clear is that the frameworks within which these more autonomous schools operate […]

Governor’s Corner: How we are tackling the A level changes

Exam reforms have prompted a Northampton school to construct a new extended enrichment curriculum for year 12 students The rushed reform of A-levels in England has presented school leaders and governors with real headaches. At the most basic, these pains are about what courses to offer and what advice to give year 11 students about their […]

How to reduce teacher workload? The answer is simple…

Cut time in the classroom to one-third. It will be expensive, but it is what teachers need have a radical solution to stop the endless workload rhetoric offered by politicians in lip-service conferences typically attended by few classroom teachers, but filled instead with school leaders, policymakers and educators. When the outcomes of the Department for […]

Pastoral interventions can help to raise student achievement

A greater emphasis on pastoral care to remove barriers to learning has increased attainment at a 1,600-pupil academy Student welfare is a hot topic. January started with worrying reports of young people suffering from poor mental health and the think-tank, 2020health, has recently suggested that heads of well-being may help schools to combat poor physical […]

Getting the message across (and it’s not about snow)

So you think it’s been a big week for education policy announcements? Well you would, because you’re involved in the sector. But what about the man and woman in the street? I don’t know if you’ve noticed, but education gets in the news fairly frequently. (I mean, of course, you’ve noticed. After all, you’re reading […]

Why the Acas Code of Practice should change

The code discriminates against non-union staff who should be entitled to have a qualified person with them at any disciplinary hearing Business secretary Vince Cable recently announced that he was signing off a “minor” amendment to the Acas Code of Practice on disciplinary and grievance procedures after a year-long consultation. In the next breath he […]

Sacking leaders over times tables defies employment law – and common sense

Let’s get something clear from the start: children should learn times tables at primary school. They should have them thoroughly memorised so that they can spend their mental energy on problem solving; there is absolutely no contradiction between memorisation and creativity. Moreover, this process is not always going to be fun and there is hard […]

Governors, look at the bigger picture

The new framework for governance is missing any acknowledgement of the need for governors to engage with the complexity of issues that their schools face I was really looking forward to seeing the National Governors Association/Wellcome Trust’s new framework for governance. Previous outputs from this interesting collaboration have been great, and the new framework, based […]